Silencer containing one or more porous bodies

ABSTRACT

A silencer for silencing and also for filtering exhaust gases, contains at least one acoustic resonator chamber ( 13, 14, 15, 16 ) (Helmholtz frequency), at least one porous body ( 7, 8 ) the porous body ( 7, 8 ) occupying at least part of the chamber and at least one connecting passage ( 17 ) for leading gas from each one of the acoustic chamber wherein the connecting passage ( 17 ) extend along the outher surface of the porous body, so as to lead along a helical flow path ( 19 ).

This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/DK01/00192 which has an Internationalfiling date of Mar. 21, 2001, which designated the United States ofAmerica.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a silencer with a casing and at leastone inlet passage for leading gas into said casing, and at least oneoutlet opening for leading gas out of the casing. The silencer containsat least one porous body which is provided for, e.g., purification ofexhaust gasses. The silencer may for example be incorporated in anexhaust system of a vehicle or a stationary installation, such as apower plant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As a result of increasing demands for purification of combustion engineexhaust, combined with requirements for compact installation in manyapplications, for instance that of automotive exhaust systems, silencersare nowadays often designed to contain built-in purification equipment,such as particle filters and catalysers based on ceramic monoliths.Also, silencers are sometimes required to contain heat exchangers forthe extraction of exhaust heat, for cabin heating or cooling, by meansof a heat-driven chiller, such as an absorption chiller. When exhaustgas flows through such ceramic monoliths and heat exchangers, the flowis typically being divided into many small, parallel subflows.Accordingly, these elements can be designated as porous bodies.

Reactive silencers basically function as acoustical low-pass filters,i.e. they provide noise reduction at frequencies above a lower cut-offfrequency f″ below which there is no or little attenuation. In addition,the transition from no to full attenuation is often gradual,characterised by a second cut-off frequency f′, which is somewhat higherthan f″. Such a second cut-off frequency typically occurs in the case ofa silencer with two acoustical chambers being connected by an internalpipe. From acoustical theory it is known that f′ and f″ more or lesscoincide with natural oscillation frequencies, known as Helmholtzfrequencies.

As discussed below in connection with FIG. 1, the natural (and cut-off)frequency can be lowered if connecting pipe length L′ is made longer.This would result in improved low-frequency noise reduction, asdiscussed below in connection with FIG. 1.

However, with silencers of simple geometry, as indicated by theschematic of the figure, there is a limit to the possible length L′,being ultimately the length of the casing, i.e. the sum of the lengthsof the two chambers. In practice, since flow in and out of chambers hasto be provided in a reasonable way, the limit length actually is lower,typically in the order of half the casing length or slightly more.

International Patent Applications Publication Nos. WO 98/14693 and WO99/50539 provide solutions to this problem. A main idea disclosed inthese patent applications is to use a curved, internal passage insteadof a straight passage. It is shown how helical passages, extendinginside a silencer close to the casing and winding e.g. 360 degrees, canresult in a substantial increase in effective passage length, which ismeasured along the curved path from inlet (connected to a first chamber)and to passage outlet (connected to a second chamber).

These cited publications show that the principle of a curved passage,used with the purpose of enhancing low-frequency acoustical performanceof two- or more chamber reactive silencers, can be applied both toclassical silencers and to silencers containing monoliths. In the lattercase, monoliths are shown to be connected in series with such curvedpassages and contained inside an acoustical chamber, having a diameterbeing only slightly less than that of the casing and being fixed to thecasing, directly or via a heat-resistant, flexible layer. Such seriesconnection of curved passages and monoliths, though, demands that themonoliths do not occupy too big a part of the total volume inside thesilencer casing, assuming that a reasonably unrestricted flow in and outof chambers must be accommodated for.

In silencers containing monoliths, passages connecting acousticalchambers may be designed as annular passages surrounding such monoliths,instead of pipes. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,269 teaches thatsuch a passage can be used for leading gases along the outer cylinder ofa catalytic monolith, in counterflow to flow through the monolith, in acombined silencer/catalyser having inlet and outlet pipes essentially atthe same end of a cylindrical casing.

International Patent Application Publication No. WO 97/43528 furtherdemonstrates how an annular passage surrounding one or more monolithsdisposed inside a silencer and being penetrated by a central pipe, canbe combined with accommodation of a rather long passage connecting twochambers. Here, the main purpose is to achieve a low cut-off frequency,as with curved, internal passages. Inlet and outlet pipes are connectedto opposite ends of the casing. One of the embodiments shows how twomonoliths, being for instance a particulate filter and a NOx-reducingcatalyser, can be accommodated inside an extremely compact combined unitaccording to this invention.

This latter concept is especially attractive in cases where there isspace for using a rather longish casing, because in such apparatuses theannular passage can attain a substantial length, constituting a ratherlow cut-off frequency associated with this passage. But in shortsilencers, the cut-off frequency goes up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a suitable type ofgeometry for the internals of a reactive silencer containing one or moreporous bodies, e.g. monoliths when very good attenuation performance isrequired down to low noise frequencies, even in the case of a rathershort casing in which the porous body or bodies make up a substantialfraction of the total volume which makes it difficult to accommodatelong internal passages connecting acoustic chambers of the silencer,such long passages otherwise being beneficial in terms of low frequencyattenuation.

Accordingly, the invention provides a silencer with a casing and atleast one inlet passage for leading gas into said casing, and at leastone outlet opening for leading gas out of said casing, said silencercontaining:

-   -   at least one acoustic chamber contained in the casing,    -   at least one porous body inside said chamber, the porous body        occupying at least part of the chamber,    -   at least one connecting passage for leading gas from each one of        the at least one acoustic chamber to another of the at least one        acoustic chamber or to an exterior environment or an exterior        chamber,        wherein at least part of at least one of said at least one        connecting passage extends along an outer surface of the porous        body, so as to lead gas along a helical flow path.

By leading the gas along a helical flow path along an outer surface ofthe porous body, longer connecting passages may be achieved, andaccordingly lower cut-off/natural frequencies may be achieved, therebyconferring improved low-frequency damping.

The at least one acoustic chamber may comprise a first and a secondacoustic chamber, in which case the at least one connecting passagepreferably interconnects the at least two acoustic chambers.

The at least one porous body may comprise a filter which is designed toretain particles contained in the gas, or it may contain a ceramicmonolith. The at least one porous body preferably has interior surfaceparts which are adapted to be in contact with the gas. The interiorsurface parts may carry a catalytic material promoting one or morechemical reactions reducing noxious components of said gas. Thecatalytic material may promote catalytic conversion of NOx.

The at least one porous body which has surfaces carrying a catalyticmaterial may comprise a through-flow monolith. The porous body ispreferably throughflowed by gas when the silencer is arranged in aworking application, such as, e.g., in the exhaust system of a vehicle.

The at least one porous body may comprise a heat exchanger in which thegas exchanges heat energy with a second fluid which passes through theheat exchanger.

Preferably, at least one porous body combines:

-   -   filtering with catalysis,    -   filtering with heat exchange,    -   catalysis with heat exchange, or    -   filtering with both catalysis and heat exchange.

In case two porous bodies are arranged in the silencer according to theinvention, those two porous bodies are preferably arranged in series,i.e. one downstream of the other.

One of the porous bodies may comprise a catalytic converter, and theother one of the porous bodies may comprise a filter which is designedto retain particles contained in the gas. Preferably, the filter isarranged downstream of the catalytic converter. The catalytic converteris preferably adapted to generate NO₂ to enhance combustion of particlesaccumulated in the filter. The filter may comprise a particulate filterand may be made essentially from SiC. The filter may also be madeessentially from cordierite.

In the silencer according to the invention, two or more monoliths may bearranged to be throughflowed by parallel gas flows and arranged adjacentto each other or with a distance between each monolith. Preferably, thisis done in a mechanical design which provides solid and flexiblemounting, as well as essential prevention of undesired by-pass flows.

In case two acoustic chambers are provided in the casing, one and onlyone connecting passage may interconnect the two chambers. Alternatively,more than one connecting passage may interconnect the two chambers, inwhich case the connecting passages may lead gas from one chamber to theother one in two or more parallel flows.

The connecting passage may cover at least 50% of the surface are of theouter surface area of the porous body. Substantially the entire surfacearea of the outer surface area of the porous body may be covered by theconnecting passage.

The at least one connecting passage may be mechanically connected to theat least one porous body along the outer surface of which the connectingpassages extends. The mechanical connection may be direct, or it may beindirect via one or more mechanical connecting members.

A distance may be provided between the at least one connecting passageand the at least one porous body. A spacing may be provided between theat least one connecting passage and the at least one porous body, thespacing being closed or adapted in such a way that sound essentiallydoes not by-pass said passage.

Preferably, the radial extension of the at least one connecting passageis substantially constant throughout the length of the passage in theflow direction of gas flowing through the connecting passage.Alternatively, at least part of one of the connecting passage isdesigned in such a way that the flow area increases in the flowdirection, the flow area increase preferably being such that a pressurerecovery diffuser effect is attained. The flow area increase may beattained by gradual and/or abrupt increase of the radial extension ofthe at least one connecting passage in the flow direction. The flow areaincrease may also be attained or increased by gradual and/or abruptincrease of the passage width in the flow direction.

The at least one connecting passage may extends on an (imaginary)envelope which is substantially circular cylindrical. In other words,the outer boundaries of the connecting passage may define a circularcylindrical shape. Alternatively, the envelope which may be oval.

The at least one connecting passage may extends on an envelope with across-section which defines a closed figure composed by curved sectionsonly or by partly curved and partly straight sections, in such a waythat abrupt turnings in flow direction within the passage or passagesare avoided.

The passage or passages may be shaped as winding pipes. The individualwindings of the winding pipes may be arranged adjacent to each other,and the individual windings may be separated by common division walls.The winding pipes may be wound with such a pitch that there is an axialspacing between the windings.

The connecting passage or passages may be helical, and the helicalpassages may be created by insertion of one or more division members orwalls inside an annular spacing. The division members may extend in apart of said annular spacing only. A width of at least part of at leastone of said division members may decrease in the flow direction so as tocause increased width(s) of the helical passage(s) in the flow directionof the gas flowing in the passages.

The division member(s) or wall(s) is/are preferably shaped such that gasenters the annular spacing in a combined axial and peripheral directionand leaves said spacing in a direction with a smaller peripheralcomponent than the peripheral component of the gas flow entering theannular spacing, so that the axial flow velocity decreases inside thepassages.

Preferably, all flows in passages created by division members or wallsare substantially identical, i.e. have the same fluid dynamicproperties, such as velocities and velocity distributions, flow rates,pressure, etc.

A part of the at least one connecting passage may extends outsideanother part of the passage, e.g. so that a first part of the connectionpassage surrounds a second part of the connecting passage. In case afirst and a second connecting passage are provided, the first connectingpassage may extend along an outer surface of the second connectingpassage, e.g. so that the first connecting passage surrounds the secondconnecting passage.

The at least one porous body may be penetrated by an extension into thesilencer of at least one external pipe or external passage or by theconnecting passage which leads gas through the porous body.

In case two acoustic chambers are provided in the silencer, and in casea porous body is provided in a downstream chamber, the outflow from theconnecting passage may leave the passage at a plurality of locationsalong the periphery of the porous body, thereby forming an inlet to aflow field upstream of the porous body, in which flow field gasmolecules are distributed across the inlet cross-section of the porousbody.

In case the connecting passage is located downstream of a chamber with aporous body therein, the inflow to said at least one passage may enterthe passage at a plurality of locations along the periphery of theporous body, thereby forming an outlet flow field downstream of theporous body, in which the flow field gas molecules are distributedacross the outlet cross-section of the porous body.

In both of the two above-mentioned cases, the flow may turn inside acavity when passing from the at least one passage to the porous body, orvice versa, the cavity containing flow guiding means, such as forinstance straight or curved, radially extending vanes.

The inlet passage may located at or near one end of the casing, and theoutlet opening may located at or near the same end of the casing, sothat gas is led to and from the casing at or near the same end of thecasing. Alternatively, the inlet passage and the outlet opening may belocated at or near opposite ends of the casing, so that gas is led toand from the casing at or near opposite ends of the casing.

The outlet opening may comprise or be connected to a pipe or passage.

The effective distance between an inlet and an outlet of the at leastone connecting passage is preferably F times the direct distance betweensaid inlet and said outlet, F being at least 1.1. Thus, the effectivedistance, as measured in flow direction, between inlet and outlet ofleast one of the at least one connecting passage is F times the directdistance between in- and outlet, as measured in an axial direction ofthe helix defined by the coinciding with an overall flow direction inthe silencer, said factor F being at least 1.1.

F may be at least 1.25, such as at least 1.5, such as at least 2.0, suchas at least 3.0 or at least 5.0.

The at least one connecting passage may define a turning angle for theflow path of at least 180°, such as at least 360°, such as at least600°.

In the silencer according to the invention, at least two acousticchambers may be provided, and the two acoustic chambers may beinterconnected by one or more connecting passages. In such a case, thesilencer may be suited for installation in a piping system connected toa reciprocating machine or engine generating a prominent noise offrequency f_(pulse) in the piping system, in which case the at least oneconnecting passage may be such formed and sized that the Helmholtznatural frequency f′ constituted by the connecting passage and the twoacoustic chambers fulfils the criterion:f′=φf _(pulse), where φ<1.

The piping system may e.g. comprise the exhaust system of a combustionengine running loaded at various rotational speeds above a certainminimum speed, the frequency equality being valid at that minimum speed.

The factor φ may be less than 0.75, such as less than 0.5, such as lessthan 0.25.

The above-mention Helmholtz natural frequency may be determined bycombining theory with acoustical testing.

In case the at least one said porous body comprises a particulatefilter, the Helmholtz natural frequency may be determined for saidfilter being heavily loaded with accumulated particulate matter.

The invention further provides a vehicle comprising a silencer accordingto the invention. The vehicle may, e.g., be a car, a truck, a bus, alocomotive, a ship or boat, or any other moveable/propelled device.

The invention also provided a stationary installation comprising asilencer according to the invention, such as, e.g., a stationary engineor a gas turbine of, e.g., a power generating station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates basic attenuation/frequency diagrams for reactivesilencers,

FIGS. 2A, B and C show a first embodiment of a silencer according to theinvention, in which inlet and outlet pipes are disposed at opposite endsof a casing, and a single, helically winding annular passage, extendingalong the cylindrical outside of two pipe-penetrated monoliths, connectstwo chambers.

FIGS. 3A and B show a second embodiment in which inlet and outlet pipesare disposed at the same end of a casing, and an annular passageconnecting two chambers extends along a single, full monolith, thepassage flow being divided into more parallel, helical flows by curveddivision walls.

FIGS. 4A, B, C and D show a third embodiment, in which a single helicalpassage extends inside a cubic-like casing and outside two monoliths.

FIGS. 5A, B and C show a fourth embodiment in which a chamberconnecting, helical passage is particularly long, surrounding monolithsinside an oval-shaped silencer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates basic attenuation/frequency diagrams for reactivesilencers. Noise reduction is provided at frequencies above a lowercut-off frequency f″ below which there is no or little attenuation. Inaddition, the transition from no to full attenuation is gradual,characterised by a second cut-off frequency f′, which is somewhat higherthan f″. Such a second cut-off frequency typically occurs in the case ofa silencer with two acoustical chambers being connected by an internalpipe. From acoustical theory it is known that f′ and f″ more or lesscoincide with natural oscillation frequencies, known as Helmholtzfrequencies.

Approximate formulae for these frequencies can be derived by consideringgas masses in connecting and tail pipes (leading gas from the secondchamber to the environment) as concentrated, oscillating masses, actingas pistons on the gas amounts contained in the two chambers of volumesV′ and V″. In the oscillatory movement the volume-contained gas amountsare being exposed to alternating (small) compressions and expansions inalmost isentropic (adiabatic, reversible) changes of state, acting assprings attached to the oscillating masses.

Accordingly, the oscillatory behaviour can be viewed by mechanicalmass-spring analogies as indicated below the schematic of thetwo-chamber reactive silencer. At top is shown the mass of gas containedin the tail-pipe (of length L″ and cross-sectional area A″), connectedto a spring constituting the flexibility of the second chamber andyielding the lower natural frequency f″. Below is shown the mass of gascontained in the internal connecting pipe (of length L′ andcross-sectional area A′), connected to springs constituting theflexibilities provided by both chambers. In the example shown, thenatural frequency f″ of the tail-pipe system is lower than that of theinternal connecting pipe. With other dimensions, e.g. with a shortertail-pipe, it could be vice versa. Strictly speaking, f′ will below betaken as the Helmholtz frequency associated with the internal connectingpipe, irrespective of which of the two Helmholtz frequencies is thelower one.

In both formulae, c is speed of sound, being a function of gastemperature. By inspecting the formula for f′, it can be seen that thisnatural (and cut-off) frequency can be lowered if connecting pipe lengthL′ is made longer, in which case the mass of gas in this pipe isincreased. This would result in improved low-frequency noise reduction,as indicated by the shaded area in the diagram of FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2, a casing 1 is connected to an inlet pipe 2 and an outlet pipe3. The casing is composed by an outer cylinder 4 and end caps 5 and 6. Afirst monolith 7, which may be a particulate filter, and a secondmonolith 8, which may be an NOx-reducing catalyst, are both containedwithin an inner cylinder 9.

In the present patent application, it should be understood that the term“monolith” relates to the overall shape; a monolith may be composed of anumber of joined or juxtaposed segments or of more monoliths beingthroughflowed in parallel.

An NOx-reducing catalyst will usually be combined with a system (notshown) for injecting ammonia or urea upstream of the unit, or at theinlet of the unit. A monolith 7 is penetrated by an extension of inletpipe 2 into the silencer unit, and a monolith 8 is penetrated by anextension into the unit of the outlet pipe 3. Both monoliths areconnected to these pipe extensions and to the inner cylinder 9 byflexible and heat-resistant layers 10 and 11. In addition, mechanicaldetails (not shown) may be added to provide increased flexible fixationof monoliths, which are exposed to axial forces from gas flow passingthrough them.

Both monolithic bodies are of rotational cylindrical form, havingconical inlet and outlet surfaces, which is beneficial from a fluid-flowpoint of view. Alternatively, conventional flat monolith end surfacesmay be used for one more of these four surfaces, to reduce manufacturingcosts and simplify design. A division wall 12 creates essentially twoacoustical chambers inside the casing. Between this division wall andmonoliths, and between the end caps 5 and 6 and monoliths, four smallcavities 13, 14, 15, and 16, are disposed. Here, flow turns aredistributed/collected across the inlet and outlet surfaces of themonoliths.

Since sound waves, especially low frequency sound waves, tend topenetrate monoliths, especially monoliths without channel closing andother open porous bodies, rather freely, the cavities 13 and 14,together with the inner, gas-contained volume of first monolith 7,constitute a first acoustical chamber. Likewise, cavities 15 and 16,together with the inner volume of the second monolith 8, togetherconstitute a second acoustical chamber. Thus, the volumes of themonoliths are used for an acoustical purpose. In a compact design as theone shown, this may be significant, since smaller volumes confer highercut-off frequencies (V′ and V″ appearing in denominators of formulae forf′ and f″, cf. FIG. 1).

If a silencer is to accommodate other types of porous bodies in whichsound propagates less freely, this may call for larger cavities thanthose indicated in FIG. 2A. That may be the case with heat exchangers inwhich heat transfer walls and heat receiving fluids occupy a significantpart of the gross volume of the porous body.

Between the outer casing cylinder 4 and the inner cylinder 9 an annularpassage 17 is created, which connects the cavities 14 and 15, and thusthe two acoustical chambers of the reactive silencer. Inside thispassage is fitted a division member 18, which extends in a helicalfashion, whereby a long, helical passage 19 is created. The divisionmember 18 (cf. FIG. 2C, which is a folded out view of the annularpassage 17) has a width s which is bigger at flow inlet than at flowoutlet. Thereby the flow passage width, w, increases in the flowdirection, so that a diffuser conferring pressure recovery is created.This is beneficial, because a narrow inlet to the passage 19 increasessound reflection caused by the change in flow cross-sectional area whenflow passes from chamber to the connecting passage. At the same time,the pressure recovery taking place in the diffuser reduces pressure lossacross the combined silencer unit, both due to pressure rise along thepassage and due to a smaller loss of dynamic energy of the gas whenpassing from the passage to the outflow acoustic chamber.

To assist uniform flow inlet to the monolith 8 and smooth flow withoutexcessive swirl inside the cavity 15, flow guiding means may beprovided, cf. FIGS. 2A and 2B. The flow guiding means may comprisescurved, radially extending vanes 20. Alternatively, the end plate 6 maybe provided with indentations to provide guiding means inside thecavity.

From FIG. 2C it can be seen that by designing the flow path to windhelically inside the annular channel 17, instead of a simple, axialflow, the effective passage length L′ has been increased by a factor ofthe order of 3, which corresponds to a lowering of cut-off (natural)frequency f′ by a factor F of about 1.7 (passage length L′ appearingunder a square root in the formula for f′, cf. FIG. 1).

As can be seen, the effective passage length L′ has been taken as a meandistance between in- and outlet of the helical passage 19 in the flowdirection. The simple, geometrical distance can be measured in the axialdirection of the helix, coinciding with the overall flow direction ofthe silencer, from inlet to outlet of the annular passage. The obliquein- and outlets of the helical passage will cause its acoustical lengthto appear less sharply in some respects. Thus, standing waves in thepassage, such as for instance a half-wave resonance, will therefore beless prominent, which is beneficial from the point of view of acousticalperformance of the silencer.

As has been pointed out above, the formula for L′, which is given inFIG. 1, is simplified. Several phenomena can cause shift in naturalfrequency f′:

-   -   Wave dynamics in chambers and passages    -   Frictional damping in the passage    -   Acoustical wave resistance caused by the monoliths, especially        filter monoliths loaded with particles.

When designing a silencer according to the invention, one may start byselecting dimensions in accordance with the simple formula for f′ andthen modify the design, determining f′ experimentally, to take theabove-mentioned phenomena into account.

FIGS. 3A and B show a second embodiment of the invention. Here, a singleand full monolith 7 is surrounded by an annular helical passage 17connecting an acoustical first chamber, comprised by cavities 13 and 14as well as an inner volume of the monolith, with a second acousticalchamber 15. An inlet pipe 2 and outlet pipe 3 are positioned essentiallyat the same end of the casing 1. An inner member 9 (corresponding to theinner cylinder 9 of the first embodiment of FIG. 2) has a thickness twhich decreases slightly in the flow direction, whereby the annularpassage height h, i.e. the radial extension of the passage increases,thereby conferring a diffuser effect.

FIG. 3B contains a folded-out view of the annular passage 17. Threedivision walls 18 divide the annular passage flow into three parallel,helically extending flows 19. The walls 18 are curved, whereby flowdirection changes from passage inlet to passage outlet. Thus, at passageoutlet the flow has a smaller peripheral velocity component. Even ifpassage height h had not increased along the flow inside the passages,the curvatures of division walls would thereby have caused a decrease inabsolute flow velocity, being the resultant of combined peripheral andaxial velocity components. Thus an increased diffuser effect isattained. The number of division walls should preferably be so high thatno major flow separation occurs along division walls. With thedimensions indicated on the drawing of FIG. 3, connecting passage lengthL′ increases by around a factor F=2 compared to simple axial flowthrough the annular passage 17.

A radially extending plate 20 is fitted inside the chamber 15 to preventexcessive swirling fluid motion.

FIGS. 4A, B, C and D show a third embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 4Band C are cross-sectional views, indicated as I—I and II—II,respectively, in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4D is a folded-out view of a helicalconnecting passage 17.

In this embodiment, the casing is cubic-like, a shape which is oftenused in modern trucks, to achieve a maximum of silencer volume withingiven geometric restrictions. The embodiment further shows how theinvention can be used to accommodate both a catalytic converter 7 and aparticulate filter 8 in serial connection inside the casing. Thecatalytic converter may for instance be designed to generate NO₂ toenhance combustion of particles accumulated in the filter, in accordancewith the principles disclosed in EP 0 341 832.

A helical passage 17 is wound outside two monoliths and is positionedbetween an inner cylinder 9 and an outer cylinder 20. The passageconnects a first chamber 13 with a second chamber which essentially ismade up of an aggregate volume, constituted by cavities 15 and 16,together with gas-filled porosities of the monoliths 7 and 8. Close toan outer side wall 5 (to the left in FIG. 4A), the nner cylinder 9constitutes a division between first and second chambers. Close to anopposite, outer side wall 6, the outer cylinder 20 constitutes thedivision wall. The first chamber 13 extends all the way between the twoabove-mentioned side walls as well as between the outer square casingand the two cylinders inside the casing.

The helical passage 17 may be viewed as a winding pipe with arectangular cross-section, which is of constant height h, but whosewidth w in the latter half of the passage gradually increases to createa diffuser. Gas enters the passage at inlet 17 i. The pipe part of thepassage 17 ends at an opening 17 o after 360 degrees' turning. Fromthere, the flow continues into an annular space which is open towards acavity 15 at an outlet 17 p.

While in the second embodiment of the invention (cf. FIG. 3B) moreco-extending passages (parallel channels 19) connect two chambers, thereis only one such passage in the first (cf. FIG. 2C) and thirdembodiments (cf. FIG. 4D). As can be seen especially from FIG. 4A, usingthe invention to choose a single, winding passage will cause theheight-to-width-ratio, h/w, to increase, as compared to a simple annularflow of the same cross-sectional area and the same mean diameter of theannulus (mainly given by the diameter of the monoliths). Thereby thehydraulic diameter of the passage increases, and the pressure loss perunit flow length decreases.

The end wall 6 is fitted with a demountable disc 6 a, making it possibleto take out the monoliths 7 and 8 for service. Straight guide vanes 22extending radially are provided to assist smooth, non-swirling turningof flow inside the cavity 15. Sound absorptive material 21, protected byperforated, curved plates, occupies three of the four corners of thesquare, as can be seen in FIG. 4C.

In the embodiment shown, division wall 18 is common to two adjacentwindings of the helical passage. Alternatively, the helical passagecould be made from a full pipe, wound up with side walls of adjacentpipe sections touching each other. Or a greater pitch of the windingcould be selected, leaving axial space between the windings.

It may be desired to increase the effective size of the secondacoustical chamber compared to the size ratio indicated in the drawing,at the expense of the size of the first acoustical chamber. This can bedone by designing the cylinder 20 to be shorter, i.e., not extendingright to the side wall 6, but instead leaving an opening, in combinationwith insertion of a division wall between the cylinder 20 and thecasing, e.g., halfway between the side walls 5 and 6.

FIGS. 5A, B and C show a fourth embodiment of the invention in which aparticularly long, helical passage 19, created by a long division wall18 inside an annular channel 17 surrounding two monoliths 7 and 8, hasbeen fitted into a silencer. The silencer shell is oval-shaped as isoften used in under-vehicle installations. A baffle 20 preventsexcessive flow swirl inside chamber 15.

The monolith 7 may be an NOx-reducing catalyser, combined with (notshown in the figure) urea injection into a pipe 2, upstream of thesilencer. The monolith 8 may be a particulate filter. The end cap 6 maybe designed with a de-mountable lock, for the purpose of easy access tothe monolith 8 for de-mounting and cleaning.

The passage 19 winds two times, i.e. 720 degrees, around the monoliths.Therefore, folded-out view in FIG. 5C has been extended to cover twowindings. A rather long connecting passage as the one shown will beparticularly appropriate in the case of a silencer adapted for apassenger car. Due to smaller gas flows in exhaust systems frompassenger car engines, e.g. compared with engines for trucks, catalysermonoliths, filter monoliths and silencer shells are all generallysmaller. Therefore, to obtain a low Helmholtz natural frequency f′ fortwo silencer acoustical chambers connected by an internal passage, arather long such passage is called for.

In the four embodiments of the invention shown, various geometries areshown which illustrate how helical passages can be adopted to increaseacoustically effective length at the passage by various factors F. Byspecifying at minimum F of 1.1, one may cause a small but necessaryadjustment of effective length L′. Typically, for instance in truck andbus applications, values of F>1.25, 1.5 or 2.0 may be needed. Biggervalues, such as F>3.0 or 5.0 may for instance be appropriate inpassenger car applications, where silencers are smaller, thus callingfor bigger increases of effective connecting passage length L′.

In the case of silencers for turbo-charged engines it is important tokeep the pressure loss across the silencer unit within certain limits,to avoid excessive back-pressure to the engine. In the case of engineswithout turbo-charging, bigger—but of course not unlimited—pressurelosses can be allowed for. For instance, when designing a compactmonolith-containing silencer for the un-turbocharged engine of alawn-mover, one may combine selection of a length-extended connectingpassage, according to the invention, with design for a rather narrowpassage flow area, in particular at passage inlet. Thereby it may bepossible to attain a low Helmholtz natural frequency f′, even with arather small silencer volume.

Somewhat, but not absolutely, linked to choice of factor F is choice ofnumber of degrees' winding of helical passages. For differentapplications, winding angles being at least 180, 360, or even 600degrees may be called for.

Devices according to the invention are particularly useful when compactsilencers containing porous bodies are installed in a piping systempassing gas through a reciprocating machine generating a dominant pulsenoise frequency f_(pulse) inside the piping system. In the case of acombustion engine, for instance the prime mover of a vehicle, this pulsenoise frequency is often termed the ignition frequency of the engine.The ignition frequency follows the rotational speed of the engine, i.e.if the engine runs slower, the ignition frequency is lowered, and thedemand for low frequency noise attenuation increases accordingly.Usually there will be a lowest rotational speed of the engine runningloaded, which will provide the most difficult case from the point ofview of attenuating low frequency exhaust noise.

If one or more helical passages can be selected sufficiently long (andnarrow), the Helmholtz natural frequency f′ constituted by at least onesuch passage connecting two chambers will be lower than f_(PULSE) evenat the lowest rotational speed of the loaded prime mover.

Thus, the invention can be adopted to achieve, for one or more Helmholtznatural frequencies: f′<φf_(pulse). The simple specification given byφ<1 will suffice in some cases. More often, however, it will be betterto specify a margin. In very compact designs it may not be possible tochoose a big margin; φ<0.9 can be chosen in such cases. Since cut-off ofnoise attenuation in the damping spectrum of the silencer is not abrupt(cf. FIG. 1), a bigger margin given by φ<0.75 is better, provided thereis room for it.

Experience shows that even at frequencies below the dominant pulsefrequency some low frequency noise attenuation may be called for. Oneexample is big, V-engines with two cylinder rows; here, exhaust noise at0.5 times f_(pulse) may be rather strong. Another example is provided bynoise inside vehicle cabins; here various low frequency components,caused by exhaust noise, may be heard and cause nuisance. In such cases,it may be relevant to specify φ<0.5 or even φ<0.25.

The four embodiments of FIGS. 2–5 further illustrate a variety ofgeometries incorporating diffusers inside annular passages surroundingmonoliths.

1. A silencer with a casing and at least one inlet passage for leadinggas into said casing, and at least one outlet opening for leading gasout of said casing, said silencer containing: at least one acousticchamber contained in the casing, at least one porous body inside saidchamber, the porous body comprising a through-flow body occupying atleast part of the chamber, where said at least one porous body hasinterior surface parts which are adapted to be in contact with the gas,the interior surface parts carrying a catalytic material promoting oneor more chemical reactions reducing noxious components of said gas, atleast one connecting passage for leading gas from each one of the atleast one acoustic chamber to another of the at least one acousticchamber or to an exterior environment or an exterior chamber, wherein atleast part of at least one of said connecting passages extends along anouter surface of the porous body, so as to lead gas along a helical flowpath.
 2. A silencer according to claim 1, in which at least one of saidat least one porous body comprises a filter which is designed to retainparticles contained in the gas.
 3. A silencer according to claim 2 inwhich said at least one filter porous body comprises a ceramic monolith.4. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said at least one porousbody carries catalytic material promoting catalytic conversion of NOx.5. A silencer according to claim 1 in which at least one porous bodywhich has surfaces carrying a catalytic material comprises athrough-flow monolith.
 6. A silencer according to claim 1 in which atleast one of said at least one porous body comprises a heat exchanger inwhich the gas exchanges heat energy with a second fluid which passesthrough said heat exchanger.
 7. A silencer according to claim 1 in whichat least one of said at least one porous body combines: filtering withcatalysis, filtering with heat exchange, catalysis with heat exchange,or filtering with both catalysis and heat exchange.
 8. A silenceraccording to claim 1, containing at least two throughflowed porousbodies, the at least two throughflowed porous bodies being arranged inseries.
 9. A silencer according to claim 8, in which one of thethroughflowed porous bodies comprises a catalytic converter, and theother one comprises a filter which is designed to retain particlescontained in the gas.
 10. A silencer according to claim 9, wherein thefilter is arranged downstream of the catalytic converter.
 11. A silenceraccording to claim 10, wherein the catalytic converter is adapted togenerate NO₂ to enhance combustion of particles accumulated in thefilter.
 12. A silencer according to claim 9, wherein the filtercomprises a particulate filter.
 13. A silencer according to claim 9,wherein the filter is made essentially from SiC.
 14. A silenceraccording to claim 9, wherein the filter is made essentially fromcordierite.
 15. A silencer according to claim 1 in which at least one ofsaid at least one porous body comprises two or more monoliths arrangedto be throughflowed by parallel gas flows and arranged adjacent to eachother or with a distance between each monolith.
 16. A silencer accordingto claim 1, comprising two acoustic chamber in said casing, and whereinone and only one passage interconnects the two chambers.
 17. A silenceraccording to claim 1, comprising two acoustic chamber in said casing,and wherein more than one passage interconnects the two chambers, thepassages leading gas from one chamber to the other one in two or moreparallel flows.
 18. A silencer according to claim 1, wherein the atleast one connecting passage covers at least 50% of the surface area ofsaid outer surface area of the porous body.
 19. A silencer according toclaim 1, in which the at least one passage covers substantially theentire surface area of said outer surface area of the porous body.
 20. Asilencer according to claim 1 in which the at least one connectingpassage is mechanically connected to the at least one porous body alongthe outer surface of which the connecting passages extends.
 21. Asilencer according to claim 1 in which there is a distance between saidat least one connecting passage and said at least one porous body.
 22. Asilencer according to claim 21 in which there is a spacing between saidat least one connecting passage and said at least one porous body, saidspacing being adapted in such a way that sound essentially does notby-pass said passage.
 23. A silencer according to claim 1 in which theradial extension of said at least one connecting passage issubstantially constant throughout the length of the passage.
 24. Asilencer according to claim 1 in which at least part of one of saidconnecting passages is designed in such a way that the flow areaincreases in the flow direction.
 25. A silencer according to claim 24 inwhich said flow area increase is attained by gradual and/or abruptincrease of the radial extension of said at least one connecting passagein the flow direction.
 26. A silencer according to claim 24 in which asaid flow are increase is attained or increased by gradual and/or abruptincrease of the passage width in the flow direction.
 27. A silenceraccording to claim 1 in which said at least one connecting passageextends on an envelope which is substantially circular cylindrical. 28.A silencer according to claim 1 in which said at least one connectingpassage extends on an envelope which is oval.
 29. A silencer accordingto claim 1 in which said at least one connecting passage extends on anenvelope with a cross-section which defines a closed figure composed bycurved sections only or by partly curved and partly straight sections,in such a way that abrupt turnings in flow direction within said passageor passages are avoided.
 30. A silencer according to claim 1, in whichthe passage or passages are shaped as winding pipes.
 31. A silenceraccording to claim 30, in which the individual windings of the windingpipes are arranged adjacent to each other.
 32. A silencer according toclaim 31 in which the individual windings are separated by commondivision walls.
 33. A silencer according to claim 30, in which thewinding pipes are wound with such a pitch that there is an axial spacingbetween the windings.
 34. A silencer according to claim 1 in which oneor more of said helical passages is/are created by insertion of one ormore division members or walls inside an annular spacing.
 35. A silenceraccording to claim 34 in which said division members only extend in apart of said annular spacing.
 36. A silencer according to claim 34 inwhich at least part of one of said connecting passages is designed insuch a way that the flow area increases in the flow direction, and inwhich a width of at least part of at least one of said division membersdecreases in the flow direction so as to cause increased width(s) ofhelical passage(s) in flow direction.
 37. A silencer according to claim34 in which at least part of one of said connecting passages is designedin such a way that the flow area increases in the flow direction, and inwhich said division member(s) or wall(s) is/are shaped such that gasenters said annular spacing in a combined axial and peripheral directionand leaves said spacing in a direction which is closer to axialdirection, in such a way that flow velocity decreases inside saidpassages.
 38. A silencer according to claim 34 in which all flows inpassages are created by division members or walls are substantiallyidentical.
 39. A silencer according to claim 1 in which part of said atleast one connecting passage extends outside another part of saidpassage.
 40. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said at least oneconnecting passage comprises a first and a second connecting passage,and in which the first connecting passage extends along an outer surfaceof the second connecting passage.
 41. A silencer according to claim 1 inwhich at least one of said at least one porous body is penetrated by anextension into the silencer of at least one external pipe or externalpassage or by at least one of said at least one connecting passage whichleads gas through said porous body.
 42. A silencer according to claim 1in which the outflow from said at least one passage leaves said passageat a plurality of locations along the periphery of said at least oneporous body, thereby forming an inlet to a flow field upstream of saidporous body, in which flow field gas molecules are distributed acrossthe inlet cross-section of said porous body.
 43. A silencer according toclaim 1 in which the inflow to said at least one passage enters saidpassage at a plurality of locations along the periphery of at least oneof said at least one said porous body, thereby forming an outlet flowfield downstream of said porous body, in which the flow field gasmolecules are distributed across the outlet cross-section of said porousbody.
 44. A silencer according to claim 42 in which the flow turnsinside a cavity when passing from said at least one passage to saidporous body, or vice versa, said cavity containing flow guiding means.45. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said inlet passage islocated at substantially one end of said casing, and in which saidoutlet opening is located at substantially the same end of the casing.46. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said inlet passage islocated at substantially one end of said casing, and in which saidoutlet opening is located at substantially the opposite end of thecasing.
 47. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said outlet openingcomprises a pipe or passage.
 48. A silencer according to claim 1 inwhich the effective distance between an inlet and an outlet of said atleast one connecting passage is F times the direct distance between saidinlet and said outlet, F being at least 1.1.
 49. A silencer according toclaim 48 in which F is at least 1.25.
 50. A silencer according to claim48 in which F is at least 1.5.
 51. A silencer according to claim 48 inwhich F is at least 2.0.
 52. A silencer according to claim 48 in which Fis at least 3.0.
 53. A silencer according to claim 48 in which F is atleast 5.0.
 54. A silencer according to claim 1 in which said at leastone connecting passage defines a turning angle of the flow path of atleast 180 degrees.
 55. A silencer according to claim 54 wherein saidturning angle is at least 360 degrees.
 56. A silencer according to claim54 wherein said turning angle is at least 600 degrees.
 57. A silenceraccording to claim 1, wherein said at least one acoustic chambercomprises at least two acoustic chambers interconnected by said at leastone connecting passage, the silencer being suited for installation in apiping system connected to a reciprocating machine or engine generatinga prominent noise of frequency f_(pulse) inside said piping system, theat least one connecting passage being such formed and sized that theHelmholtz natural frequency f′ constituted by said connecting passageand said two acoustic chambers fulfils the criterion:f′=φf _(pulse) where φ<1.
 58. A silencer according to claim 57, whereinφ<0.75.
 59. A silencer according to claim 57 wherein φ<0.5.
 60. Asilencer according to claim 57, wherein φ<0.25.
 61. A silencer accordingto claim 1, comprising at least two acoustic chambers, and wherein saidat least one connecting passage interconnects said at least two acousticchambers.
 62. A vehicle comprising a silencer with a casing and at leastone inlet passage for leading gas into said casing, and at least oneoutlet opening for leading gas out of said casing, said silencercontaining: at least one acoustic chamber contained in the casing, atleast one porous body inside said chamber, the porous body comprising athrough-flow body occupying at least part of the chamber, where said atleast one porous body has interior surface parts which are adapted to bein contact with the gas, the interior surface parts carrying a catalyticmaterial promoting one or more chemical reactions reducing noxiouscomponents of said gas, at least one connecting passage for leading gasfrom each one of the at least one acoustic chamber to another of the atleast one acoustic chamber or to an exterior environment or an exteriorchamber, wherein at least part of at least one of said connectingpassages extends along an outer surface of the porous body, so as tolead gas along a helical flow path.
 63. A stationary installationcomprising a silencer with a casing and at least one inlet passage forleading gas into said casing, and at least one outlet opening forleading gas out of said casing, said silencer containing: at least oneacoustic chamber contained in the casing, at least one porous bodyinside said chamber, the porous body comprising a through-flow bodyoccupying at least part of the chamber, where said at least one porousbody has interior surface parts which are adapted to be in contact withthe gas, the interior surface parts carrying a catalytic materialpromoting one or more chemical reactions reducing noxious components ofsaid gas, at least one connecting passage for leading gas from each oneof the at least one acoustic chamber to another of the at least oneacoustic chamber or to an exterior environment or an exterior chamber,wherein at least part of at least one of said connecting passagesextends along an outer surface of the porous body, so as to lead gasalong a helical flow path.